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Ingestive behaviour of cows grazing grass-clover swards maintained at different heights with or without concentrate supplementation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2017

A. J. Rook ,
C. A. Huckle ,
P. D. Penning  and
R. J. Wilkins
A. J. Rook
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon EX20 2SB
C. A. Huckle
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon EX20 2SB
P. D. Penning
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon EX20 2SB
R. J. Wilkins
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon EX20 2SB
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Extract

Huckle, Rook and Wilkins (1993) have reported elsewhere in this meeting the production responses of cows grazing grass-clover swards maintained at different heights with or without concentrate supplementation. In order to understand these responses more fully the ingestive behaviour of the animals was studied in detail.

Multlparous Holstein-Friesian cows with a mean calving date of 21 March were continuously stocked on mixed grass-clover swards. The cows were blocked by calving date, parity and milk yield in week two of lactation and randomly allocated to one of six treatments, 0 (U) or 4 kg (3.44 kg DM) (S) concentrate supplementation (180 g CP/kg DM, 12.8 MJ ME/kg DM) with swards maintained at 4, 6 or 8 cm compressed (rising plate) sward height by adjusting the grazed area. In order to avoid the possibility of social facilitation occurring between supplemented and unsupplemented animals, two paddocks were maintained at each sward height with the concentrate treatments alternating daily between the paddocks at each height. Jaw movements were recorded automatically over a 24 hour period for a different cow on each treatment for each of 6 days between 15 and 25 June 1992, using the apparatus described by Huckle, Clements and Penning (1989).

Type
Silage and Feeding Behaviour
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Production (1972) , Volume 1993: Winter meeting , March 1993 , pp. 146
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Production 1993

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References

Huckle, C. A., Clements, A. J. and Penning, P. D. (1989). A technique to record eating and ruminating behaviour in dairy cows. In: New Techniques in Cattle Production, Ed. Phillips, C. J. C., Butterworths, London, pp 236–7.Google Scholar
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